Resolution
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Webcam Test: Check Your Camera Online
Test your webcam in the browser: view the live picture and resolution, check microphone level, record a clip and play it back. Nothing is uploaded.
- 1Allow access
- 2Camera
- 3Record Video
Webcam Test: Check Your Camera Online
Test your webcam in the browser: view the live picture and resolution, check microphone level, record a clip and play it back. Nothing is uploaded.
Microphone
Too quietGood levelToo loud – distortion
Picture and sound stay on your device. Nothing is uploaded.
Microphone
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Recorded Video:
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About this tool: Webcam Test
See your camera picture and resolution, check the microphone level next to it, then record a short clip and play it back before a call that matters.
Cameras fail quietly. The lens is covered by the privacy shutter you closed last week, a system update reset the permission, the laptop is still holding on to the external webcam you unplugged, or the driver simply lost the device. You find out when six people are already staring at a black rectangle with your name on it.
This page shows you the answer in a few seconds. You see the live picture, the resolution the browser is actually getting, and the microphone level right underneath it, so one check covers both halves of a video call. Then you can record a few seconds, play it back and see yourself exactly the way the other side will.
When it is worth the thirty seconds
The obvious moment is a job interview, where the first impression is a rectangle on someone else's screen. But the list is longer than most people expect. You have just bought a laptop or a webcam and want to know it works before the return window closes, or you are buying a used one and want to check the camera before you hand over the money. A meeting invite arrives with two minutes' notice. It is the first day of a remote job and the onboarding call starts in ten minutes. A student needs a working camera for a proctored exam or a thesis defence, and the exam software will not negotiate. A doctor's appointment is happening over video and they need to see, not just hear you. A bank or a marketplace asks for camera-based identity verification. A photographer or a streamer is checking framing and light before going live. A teacher is about to face thirty pupils. And sometimes it is simply a call with parents or grandchildren in another country, someone you have not seen in months, where you want the first minute to be about them and not about "we can't see you".
Why being seen is worth the trouble
Being on camera does real work. You watch the other person's face and adjust in the moment: the small frown that means you should slow down, the nod that means you can move on, the half-breath that means someone is about to speak. They see the same from you, which is why the same argument lands better with a face attached to it. In an interview or a pitch, that is the difference between a name in a participant list and a person somebody remembers. And with family it is the whole point of the call. A voice tells you how someone is doing; a face tells you whether it is true. Turning the camera off is a legitimate choice on a heavy day, but it should be a choice, not something a broken device decides for you.
Nothing leaves your device. The picture, the microphone level and the recording all stay inside the browser: there is no upload, nothing is stored on a server, and everything disappears when you close the tab. If you download the clip, it is saved straight to your computer.
How to use it
- Press "Turn On Camera" and allow access. The browser asks once. If no prompt appears, look for a crossed-out camera icon in the address bar, and check that the physical shutter or privacy slider is open.
- Check the picture, the resolution and your framing. The chip under the video shows what the browser is actually receiving, for example 1280 x 720. Your eyes should sit roughly a third from the top of the frame, with the camera at eye level rather than pointing up at the ceiling.
- Use the "Mirror" switch to see what other people see. The preview is mirrored by default because that is how you look in a mirror. Turn it off and any text on your shirt or the whiteboard behind you becomes readable, which is the version everyone else on the call gets.
- Say a few words and watch the microphone meter. It reads the same stream as the camera, so a moving bar means the call will have both picture and sound. If it stays flat, the browser is listening to a different device than you think.
- Record a few seconds. Press "Record Video", talk the way you would on the call, and use "Pause" if you want to change something and continue in the same clip. "Stop Recording" ends it and shows the playback.
- Watch it back, then save it if you want. The recording and downloaded file match the preview: mirrored when Mirror is on, and unmirrored when it is off. Changes during recording are saved too. "Download WebM" saves the file to your device; if you need it as MP4, run it through our WebM to MP4 converter.
- Press "Turn Off Camera" when you are done so the indicator light goes out and the camera is free for the meeting app.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to install anything?
No. Everything runs in the browser tab, with no download, no account and no time limit. It works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, on a computer as well as on a phone.
Where is my recording stored? Is anything uploaded?
Nowhere except your own machine. The camera and microphone streams are handled entirely inside the browser, the recording is held in your computer's memory while the page is open, and it is discarded the moment you close or reload the tab. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no request that carries your picture or your voice to us or to anyone else. You do not have to take that on trust: open your browser's developer tools on the Network tab while you record and you will see no upload, and the whole test keeps working even if you disconnect from the internet once the page has loaded. The only copy that outlives the page is the file you choose to download, saved straight to your device.
Why do I look mirrored, and which version do other people see?
Self-view is mirrored on purpose, here and in almost every meeting app, because a mirror image is what you are used to seeing of yourself and it makes it easier to adjust your position. Everyone else sees the unmirrored picture, which is why text on your t-shirt reads backwards to you and correctly to them. Turn off the Mirror switch to check that version. The recorded file follows the Mirror setting, including changes you make during recording.
The camera works here but not in Zoom or Teams. What now?
Then the hardware, the driver and the operating system are fine and the problem sits in the app. Open its video settings and check which camera is selected, because apps often hold on to a device you have unplugged. Confirm the app has camera permission at system level, and close anything else that might be using the camera: on Windows most webcams can only serve one program at a time. Restarting the app after switching devices helps more often than it should.
I see a black screen, or nothing happens at all.
Work through it in this order: the physical shutter or sliding cover, the browser permission (click the icon at the left of the address bar and allow the camera, then reload), and finally the system settings, under Windows Settings > Privacy & security > Camera or, on a Mac, System Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera. If the camera light is on but the picture is black, another application has grabbed the device first: close video call apps and try again. On company laptops camera access is sometimes blocked by policy.
Is my webcam really the resolution I paid for?
The chip under the picture shows the resolution the browser negotiated, which is a reasonable reality check on a new or second-hand device. Keep in mind that a browser may settle for a lower mode than the camera's maximum, and that meeting apps often send an even smaller picture to save bandwidth, so a 1080p sensor rarely arrives as 1080p at the other end.
Why is my picture dark, grainy or washed out?
Almost always the light rather than the camera. A window or a lamp behind you makes the sensor expose for the background and leaves your face in shadow, so put the main light in front of you and keep the bright window at your back only if you want a silhouette. In a dim room the camera raises its gain, which is what produces the grain. A cheap desk lamp bounced off a wall in front of you improves a video call more than a new webcam does.
Does this test the microphone too?
Yes, that is what the level meter under the picture is for, and it uses the same stream as the camera, so one run covers both. If you want to hear how you actually sound rather than just watch a bar move, record a clip here and play it back, or use the dedicated microphone test.
Can I pause a recording and continue?
Yes. While recording, "Pause" freezes the clip without ending it, so you can fix your framing, move a lamp or wait out a noise, then press it again to continue in the same file. "Stop Recording" finishes the take and shows the playback.
What format is the recording, and how do I get an MP4?
Browsers record to WebM, which plays in any modern browser and in VLC. If you need MP4 for a phone, a presentation or an older editor, convert the downloaded file with our WebM to MP4 converter, which also runs entirely in your browser.
How often should I check the camera?
Before anything that counts: an interview, a client meeting, an exam, a webinar, a first call with someone new. It is also worth thirty seconds after a system or driver update, when you plug in a new monitor or docking station, and when you take a new device out of the box, because those are the moments when the default camera changes or the permission quietly resets.
What do the device details show, and can I see the driver version?
The panel lists what the browser is willing to report about the live devices: the camera and microphone names, the resolution and frame rate you are actually getting, the highest resolution the camera advertises, and the audio settings in force, including sample rate, channels and whether echo cancellation, noise suppression and automatic gain control are switched on. In Chrome the camera name often carries the USB vendor and product id in brackets, which pins down the exact hardware model. Driver versions are not there because no browser exposes them to a web page; for those, use Device Manager on Windows or System Information on a Mac. The Copy details button puts the whole list on the clipboard, which is the quickest way to hand it to whoever handles support.